Lyons gets passed over in final flurry

Despite a push by supporters, the effort might have come too late for the jailed minister.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001

Supporters of the Rev. Henry J. Lyons, fallen leader of the largest black church organization in the country, were disappointed Saturday when the imprisoned St. Petersburg minister failed to win a last-minute pardon from President Clinton.

In the waning days of Clinton's tenure, Lyons' son, Derek, and a group of nine Baptist preachers rushed an application to the White House. They had hoped for a pardon for Lyons, the former head of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. who is serving concurrent state and federal sentences for grand theft, racketeering, fraud and tax evasion. The pardon would have made him eligible for work release when 18 months remained in his state sentence.

Lyons' attorney, Denis deVlaming, is disappointed.

"Whenever you make that effort, you certainly hope that it will be successful," he said.

"It would not have shortened his jail term. The only thing it would have done was make him eligible for work release," deVlaming said. "Where you serve your sentence is indeed important to any inmate, and a work release facility is far more beneficial to the inmate than a jail cell."

The effort started late.

"I got contacted about 10 days ago," deVlaming said. "I think that the number of people that could have been contacted in Washington -- because of the lateness of the hour -- were not contacted."

As leader of the powerful NBC, Lyons wielded enormous influence with politicians and corporate leaders, who courted him with money and attention. In 1994, Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Lyons' church. In 1996, President Clinton asked Lyons and the convention for help in being re-elected and once invited Lyons to breakfast when he visited Tampa.

The pardon effort was spearheaded by the Rev. Marvin Mercer Sr., pastor of Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in South Fulton, Tenn., said deVlaming, who wrote to Clinton requesting the pardon.

"I was told by Rev. Mercer that a reverend spoke to President Clinton about a week ago in Philadelphia and mentioned that this (letter) was coming and the indication was to go ahead and prepare a formal application for clemency," deVlaming said.

On Saturday, however, Mercer said he wasn't behind the effort. The letter noted that Lyons' numerous followers "support him and admire his accomplishments."

It's uncertain whether President Bush will receive a similar petition.

"With his law-and-order policies, the reverend's chances . . . are next to nil," deVlaming said.

Lyons' problems began in 1997, when his wife was arrested for setting fire to a Tierra Verde home her husband had bought with another woman. That set in motion two years of revelations about his financial dealings using the convention's name.

- Times staff writer Bill Levesque contributed to this report.

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